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Pentax Optio M20

Photokina report

Tuesday 22nd, August 2006Posted by: Mark Peters

Pentax launches the Pentax Optio M20, a compact digital camera boasting extended battery life. The Pentax M20 is a well-balanced compact digital camera family with a wide range of basic features. In addition offering extended battery life from only 2 AA batteries, this model features a new Blur Reduction mode as well as an upgrade to 7.0 effective Megapixels. Using easily-available AA batteries, you can take high quality photos with the Optio M20 anytime anywhere, while on trips and everyday. The Pentax Optio M20 includes a 3X optical zoom lens with a focal length from 38 to 114 mm for 35-mm film, which is ideal for a broad spectrum of subjects from landscapes, through sightseeing photographs, to portraits.

Pentax M20 camera - Blur reductionThe Pentax Optio M20 is equipped with a Blur Reduction mode, a new feature that lets you take photos at faster shutter speeds for sharper images even in dim lighting conditions such as night scenes and indoor sporting events. In this mode, the camera automatically adjusts the sensitivity to as high as ISO 1600 to match the brightness of the subject. The higher sensitivity permits faster shutter speeds that effectively reduce not just camera shake but also blurring caused by moving subjects.

Pentax Optio M20 compact camera - Energy and SceneThanks to its comprehensive energy-saving design, the Pentax Optio M20 provides exceptional battery life (approximately 220 images with AA-size alkaline batteries, or approximately 700 images with AA-size lithium batteries. Since it accepts the globally available AA-size batteries, the user will have no worries about obtaining fresh batteries on the road. The Auto Picture mode lets the camera automatically determine the shooting conditions for Landscape, Portrait, Night Scene, and Program modes and choose the optimum settings for each subject. This Pentax original function simplifies shooting for users since it eliminates the necessity of making a number of individual settings.

Pentax M20 digital camera - MovieThe Pentax Optio M20 captures movies at 30 fps (frames per second) at resolutions up to 640 x 480 pixels and with an image quality rivaling that of camcorders. Camera shake while filming can be corrected automatically using the movie anti-shake function (Using the movie anti-shake function results in a narrower field of view than that during normal recording).

Pentax Optio M20 - Face recognition and Auto focusThe camera includes Face Recognition AF & AE, which allows you to take bright, beautiful photos of people with perfectly focused faces free of shadows caused by backlighting. This useful function automatically detects the position of the subject’s face anywhere in the photo frame and then adjusts the focus and optimizes the exposure for the detected position. The Pentax Optio M20’s auto-tracking AF feature continuously focuses on subjects such as kids and pets that move around unpredictably. Since the focus frame automatically follows the movement of the subject inside the photo frame, you can capture those instantaneous photo opportunities.

Pentax Optio M20 digital compact camera - 7 Megapixel CCDThe Pentax M20 produces clear images with impressive quality thanks to the high resolution afforded by its 7.0 effective Megapixels and to its high-performance smc Pentax lens. This superlative resolution makes it possible to attain prints with crisp details even when the photo is greatly enlarged.

Pentax M20 - LCD monitor and SDHC memory cardThe Pentax Optio M20 comes with a 2.5-inch LCD monitor, which displays subjects’ movement with very little time delay (60 fps). It's easy to view; large monitor and menu display make operation, setting, monitoring, and playback comfortable and easy.The camera also has an auto LCD dimmer function that automatically dims the backlight to optimize the checking of the screen, both indoors and outdoors. The Pentax Optio M20 supports two removable storage media: the conventional SD memory cards and the new SDHC memory cards (SD High Capacity; these memory cards have capacities in excess of 2 GB).

Pentax Optio M20 photo camera - ImageLinkThe new Pentax Optio M20 is compatible with the ImageLink printing system, which allows wireless connection of a digital camera to ImageLink-compatible printers. By simply placing the Pentax Optio M20 on the printer’s dock, the user can take advantage of simple, push-button printing of recorded images, without requiring a personal computer.

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